Recently, hotel companies like Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, and Hyatt have offered lower rates on their websites to entice guests to book direct. Now, online travel agent Expedia is claiming that hotel owners are the ones who lose out when chains push for direct booking. Expedia estimates that owners could take a revenue hit of about 8 percent because of the decision to publicly offer loyalty program members lower rates on the company website than on a third-party website. Despite owners saving on distribution costs from direct booking, Expedia says this method could reduce exposure and lead to higher loyalty program costs. However, the choice to push for direct booking is not without reason on the hotel companies’ side–direct booking keeps guests out of the clutches of rogue booking websites (which claim nearly 15 million bookings per year) and can lead to strengthened brand loyalty. To read more on this topic, click here.
